Here I Go Again on My Own

This past week in Methven was great. It was the start of school holiday and the church I go to does a program for the kids, (just like our Vacation Bible School.) I have been able to help out with that by leading a group of 7year old girls and doing the drama each day. It was great to feel connected and get involved. By the end of it all I was pretty wiped out, but was so glad I got to be a part of it.

I have gotten pretty close to one family here. Debbie is one of the women that is a part of the women’s lunch group. She is married and has to young girls. They have been such a blessing to me. I had a chance to go have “tea” (dinner) one night with all of them and it was just the comfort I needed. I have been blown away by the way people have loved me in such a short amount of time. I am going to have tea with another family on Monday and one of my co-workers is having a going away party for me as well! It will be strange saying goodbye, but exciting to see what God does.

Now the plan is to leave Methven on Tuesday. I will get on the road and take a bit of time to see what I can. I am planning on visiting Oamaru and see the Moeraki boulders and the other things in that area. Then I will head down to Wanaka. This is where I hope to settle down for the next few months. This is really close to Queenstown (adventure capital of the world. Bungee Jumping was invented there!!!) and it is close to Milford Sounds. So I will be right in the center of what is arguably the most beautiful part on NZ and there is some of the best climbing in all of NZ here!!!

I am really looking forward to finding out what God will do with me here. I have applied for a job as a barista at a café that is in a rock climbing gym, and am praying very hard that this works out. It would use my passion perfectly and I would have the chance to meet people within the climbing community.

I have also found a church that I plan on going to. Some YWAMers started it a few years ago after an outreach trip there. It is still quite small and is made up largely of 20 something’s. So I am really looking forward to being a part of a young congregation. I think this move will be great but I am of course a bit nervous (as anyone moving somewhere with no job or place to live would be!) But I know God will provide!

PRAYERS:
Please pray for God’s provision in Wanaka, job, church, relationships, a flat and so on. Also for my drive and travel there, as well as my preparation in leaving here.

Also please pray for my parents friend Steve. He is going through an intense battle with cancer.

Ive been here in Methven for 3 weeks now, and things have really gotten comfortable. But at the same time I have started feeling a bit restless. The only explanation I have is that this is the longest I have been in one place since Mid July. Up till now I have been so all over the place and "unsettled" that I haven't really had time to think about home that much. Now that I have time I think about it quite often and miss so much.

Its strange to think that this is what life is for me now, its not just a long vacation. There have been little glimpses of "normalcy" that have made this more and more evident. Most recently, I got a car. This really set in the fact that I am here for a while and no longer just a tourist. It has been a huge blessing to have already. I have also been able to get more involved with the church I have been going to. Next week I will be helping out with their holiday program (the equivalent to vacation bible school.) This will go on all next week and I will be doing the drama and leading a small group. It all works out perfectly with my work schedule which is wonderful.

Speaking of work it is still going really well. They have just hired on another receptionist, so now I get 3 days off a week. I actually would per fer less time off but I definitely wont complain. This week, since I got a car, I was able to take a day trip up to Mt Hutt and try snow boarding. I signed up for a group lesson, but no one else was there, so I ended up getting a 2 hour private lesson! I'm not so sure how much good it did, I was still on my butt about the entire time and am still sore 3 days later (I think I will stick to climbing.) I was also able to take a trip to the Rakaia Gorge. It was so incredibly beautiful, I was blown away. Its only about 20 min away so I hope to go back a few more times before I leave Methven. I was able to post some pictures. Here is the link:

More Pictures!
http://unt.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1246539&l=73c93&id=23902206

I love you all and miss you!

Living and loving life

Hey Yall! Life in Methven has been wonderful and I still love it. Since my last post I have been able to get even more settled in here. I work every day for either 7 or 8 hours and I really enjoy it. I haven’t had a day off yet but I haven’t really wanted one either. Since Methven is such a small town I would have a hard time filling up my day with stuff to do here, or I would have to spend quite a bit of money getting to the next town.

All that being said, I do have my first day off this coming Saturday. I may go up to the mountain to try snow boarding. I am also looking for a car, so depending on that I may use my day off to get into the city and pick one up. Cars here are pretty inexpensive (I can find a decent one for under $1000 NZD and insurance is only about $30 NZD a month) So buying one will end up being a lot cheaper than renting one or taking trains for travelling. It will also be nice to have when my parents come to visit.

God's provision is still blowing me away! The church I found has been great. I feel so welcome there and they have completely opened their arms to me. I have been able to go to a Women's lunch/ bible study on Mondays, which is wonderful. It’s a small group of 3 women that get together to fellowship for a few hours. Yesterday they asked me if I would be willing to teach the lesson. So today I taught over Psalms 23 and I feel like it went really well. It has been really refreshing and comforting to have fellowship with older women.

On Saturday night I was able to hang out with the YWAMers and that was fantastic. There is about to be a backpackers YWAM starting in 3 weeks. That school will be doing pretty much everything I had hopped to do in moving here (backpack, rock climb and reach out to that culture) and they have the resources and connections to do it. I got the number of the base and when this job ends I am going to go spend a few days there meeting with the leaders and start to get some connections and direction hopefully. I was able to talk to one of the girls that will be staffing that school for a while, it was wonderfully encouraging to talk to someone with my same passion and vision.

Between the church, my job and the YWAMers I have really felt much more at home than I ever expected to. It doesn’t feel like home at all, but I feel such peace and a great comfort here. I really love the culture and have been able to partake in a few of the culture norms (aka, watching rugby.) The rugby world cup started on Saturday and that will be going on over the next 6 weeks. The All Blacks had their first game and of course they DEMOLISHED Italy. The ending score was 77 to 14. I am pretty confident that this is the year for the All Blacks. It should be really fun to be here while that is going on.

Prayers: I am praying for Gods continually provision. To continually be at rest in where He has me right now, and clarity in where He wants me in the future. My biggest prayer is that I will be able to be settled in somewhere before the holidays. My hope is that I can be somewhere for at least a month before Christmas so that I can meet people to share that time with. I love you all! Please let me know how I can pray for you. (I know there is a TON going on in your lives, don’t hold back on me!) I miss you!

Workin for a livin

Hey Y'all! I wanted to let everyone know that things are ideal right now. This job has been more of a blessing than I could have ever imagined. The town is a beautiful Extremely small town (a little over 1/2 mile from one end to another) right near Mt. Hutt. I have been able to go running each morning and see God's glorious creation each day.
The hotel is going through management changes right now so its a little bit all over the place. It is a strange transition working here; everyone is soooo layed back that the slightest effort impresses them. They have really been treating me So well. Not only are they providing a room for me but they are having their chef cook my meals as well. The property is so nice and has a beautiful lay out. So needless to say that between the room, the meals, the hot tub and sauna, I feel like royalty. I know that this job is because of all your prayers, so thank you!
I was able to go to church this morning (they are going to give me off each Sunday morning for church as well!) and the people were so nice. Its fathers day here today and the service was run by the children, so I dont really know what it will be like yet. But it was nice to be around Christians even if it wasn't great teaching. Also this church works with the Oxford YWAM each Saturday night in providing a free dinner to the ski bums in the area. I will be able to get off work a little early for this, so I am looking forward to being around YWAMers again.
Since I wont be here for long, if you want to write me something you can send it to the work exchange program I am with and they will either have it forwarded (if there is enough time) or hold on to it till I get to the next place. So this will be an address that you can always send stuff too.

Maggie Fitzgerald
C/O IEP- Work NZ, PO Box 1786
Shortland Street, Auckland
New Zealand

Also I have a cell phone here so if you want to get an international phone card and call me you can reach me at any time on it!

+64 021 889 003

I would Really love to hear from you all. Please keep me updated on your lives. I love you all very much.